Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group, a UK-based manufacturer of positive displacement pumps, faced significant challenges in managing product information. Handling product data for 5300 part numbers and 418 unique product variants across 21 languages for over 40 websites and 9000 data sheets was labor-intensive and prone to inaccuracies.
The Challenge
Previously, every web page had manually written copy and code, making it laborious to update content as products changed. Additionally, updating data sheets with standard desktop publishing software took 2-3 hours per sheet across 21 language versions. Localization posed another challenge, requiring new websites to be built from scratch for new languages or markets.
The Solution
To address these issues, Watson-Marlow chose Perfion PIM as their Single Source of Truth for product data. After thoroughly cleaning existing data, they now generate product data types consistently.
With Perfion, product detail web pages are based on a single template, automatically populated with technical information stored in Perfion. All data, including images and files, is maintained in Perfion, and all language versions of the website update automatically when information changes.
“The previous process to update a single datasheet across all 21 languages was 2-3 hours. Making the same change in Perfion takes 5 minutes – and the accuracy of our customer facing data is much greater.”
– Watson-Marlow, Fluid Technology Group
Benefits Realized
The integration of Perfion has delivered numerous benefits:
- Automated Updates: Web pages automatically update based on data in Perfion, ensuring accuracy and consistency.
- Time Savings: Updating a data sheet across 21 languages now takes just 5 minutes, compared to the previous 2-3 hours.
- Data Reuse: Complete data sets can be easily reused across multiple languages and markets.
- Efficient Data Management: Perfion’s flexible data modeling allows for the creation of ‘abstractions of products’ for marketing purposes, keeping the number of products on the website manageable.
- Consistent Data Sheets: With Perfion’s built-in report designer, Watson-Marlow’s 9000 data sheets can be automatically created, updated, and published in all languages with consistent product data. Previous versions are archived for reference.
- Future Integration: Watson-Marlow plans to use Perfion to publish product data in manuals and brochures, further streamlining their processes.
About Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group
Since 1956, Watson-Marlow has been manufacturing positive displacement pumps and providing engineering support to various industries. The company comprises 10 leading brands specializing in niche fluid transfer technologies and serves over 60 markets worldwide. Watson-Marlow is part of Spirax Sarco Engineering plc, a FTSE100 company.
